What are you thinking of so good?
Want to leave?!
His city-state is in dire need of labor. Although he managed to trick a batch of survivors from the underground caves, a few hundred people are far from enough for the development of a city-state.
A city-state.
Even if it’s not as good as the markets outside the caves, its level can be defined as a county town.
You can’t say it’s a village, right?
For a county town, a population of 100,000 shouldn’t be considered excessive. Even some larger villages can have thousands of households, and small towns can have tens of thousands.
Chen Yu’s current city-state is still far from that.
Chen Yu would never give up on this batch of hyenas. They can fight and are good for labor. Chen Yu cherishes them greatly.
But—
Teng Village’s expression changed upon hearing this.
“City Lord, what do you mean by this?”
“What do I mean? You’re asking me?” Chen Yu sneered with a smile. “Even if, hypothetically, you had an employment relationship with the necromancer, that’s just your word against his. Who knows, maybe you colluded with him to seize my territory, and you came to the city intending to split the profits with him?”
“That’s a bit much, don’t you think?”
Teng Village couldn’t help but let out a cold laugh and said.
“You say my word is just a one-sided account, but from beginning to end, your relationship with the necromancer is also just your one-sided account, isn’t it?”
“Then do you believe it?” Chen Yu remained unmoved, a smile on his face. “Teng Village, this is the second time I’ve said this to you: face reality. You don’t actually think you’re in a position to argue with me now, do you? What you need to do is very simple: believe whatever I say, do whatever I tell you to do, right?”
Teng Village, his lips moving, remained silent for a long time.
“I have been kind enough to you,” Chen Yu snorted when he saw Teng Village’s silence. “I haven’t completely defined you as an accomplice of the necromancer, and I’ve still allowed you to live and sit here. This is my leniency towards you, and you should be grateful.”
Chen Yu’s voice was low.
His voice carried a heavy, undeniable tone.
Teng Village gazed at him, speechless.
From the bottom of his heart, he was unwilling, but Chen Yu’s words were perfectly reasonable.
Face reality.
The effects of his medicine were about to wear off.
He couldn’t threaten Chen Yu now, and even less so after the effects wore off. Even with all his unwillingness, he had to obey Chen Yu.
“City Lord Chen, what do you want to do?” Teng Village murmured.
“It’s very simple. They wanted to assist the necromancer in seizing the throne, but failed. I spared their lives, so they must make amends for their previous actions,” Chen Yu said softly. “Strictly speaking, they should be slaves here with me, and so should you.”
Teng Village was silent.
He would absolutely not agree to such terms, and Chen Yu was not wrong. This was the world of the underground caves; captives were either ransomed or kept as slaves.
This was a common occurrence in the underground caves.
“Of course, you can also pay a ransom to redeem them,” Chen Yu raised an eyebrow.
“Let’s talk about other ways.” Chen Yu smiled and whispered, not surprised that Teng Village chose other options without hesitation. “I need them to work in my city-state. They don’t need to work for too long, for a period of two years.”
“Two years!?”
Teng Village immediately lost his composure upon hearing this.
“Is there a problem?” Chen Yu chuckled softly. “Exchanging two years for their lives, isn’t that worth it? Or, perhaps, you don’t value their lives?”
“City Lord Chen, two years is indeed too long. They are the new strength of the tribe, and if…”
Before Teng Village could finish speaking, he noticed Chen Yu’s expression and immediately changed his words from refusal to acceptance.
“I accept.”
“Then leave a video. If I say it, they might not believe it. As their elder, you should have a better effect.”
“Video?”
Teng Village’s expression changed slightly, but he still nodded silently.
“Alright, I accept. City Lord Chen, I have another question. During this period, they shouldn’t suffer any casualties, right? If…”
Oh my!
Jumping into the trap willingly, and there’s such a good thing?
Teng Village’s question was precisely walking into Chen Yu and Hei Dou’s intricate trap. Chen Yu had been wondering how to guide him.
Instead, he took the initiative.
“I will guarantee their safety. If they get injured while working for me, it will be considered a work-related injury. Normally, work-related injuries would receive subsidies, but for the first two years, they are working for free. In case of death, I will provide compensation to your Hyena tribe.”
“Compensation is?”
“It’s called compensation,” Chen Yu said concisely. “If they die accidentally while working, I will pay compensation to your Hyena tribe, 100 gold coins.”
“This?”
Teng Village’s expression changed slightly.
“Do you think it’s too little?” Chen Yu couldn’t help but laugh. “Teng Village, perhaps the high commission from the necromancer has made you lose your clear perception of the situation in the underground caves. The average person in the underground caves earns about 1 gold coin a year. After deducting daily expenses, there’s not much left. 100 gold coins is a sum that many people can’t earn in a lifetime.”
“Good.”
“If you have no problem with these, then how will you pay the 580,000 gold coins?” Chen Yu glanced sideways, but unexpectedly, the demon girl, with her fair legs dangling, also leaned in. “And the emotional distress fee. You were trying to rob me just now, weren’t you? You even sent Chen Yu and the city’s battle beasts flying. You need to pay some medical expenses.”
Seeing the demon girl actually leaning in, Chen Yu was a bit surprised.
She was actually speaking up for him and trying to extort money.
Even more surprised.
It was that Chen Yu sniffed slightly and seemed to catch a faint scent.
Body fragrance.
Of the demon girl.
“Hey, don’t think silence is golden. You have to pay,” the demon girl said, hands on her hips, glaring. Then she looked sideways at Chen Yu. “You speak too! Don’t you have any internal injuries?”
“Ah!”
Suddenly, Chen Yu clutched his chest, stretched out his neck, and his eyes were full of pain.
“I, it hurts so much. When he unleashed his power just now, it rushed into my chest and ruptured my bulla. I now have spontaneous pneumothorax.”
“Did you hear that? Spontaneous pneumothorax. Do you know how serious this disease is?”
The demon girl stared with her almond-shaped eyes and tilted her head. “What is spontaneous pneumothorax? I’ve never heard of it in all my years in the underground caves?”
“This disease is very serious. It’s incurable. Once you have it, it’s for life.”
“Is that so!”
The demon girl looked as if she had learned something new. There were few things in the underground caves that she didn’t know. Chen Yu had actually mentioned a disease she was unfamiliar with.
“Hey, you!” The demon girl nudged Teng Village. “This disease is incurable. Wouldn’t 880,000 be excessive?”
“I…”
“And the hundreds of warriors from just now, 38,000 each for their medical expenses, that’s not excessive, is it?”
“This?”
“Including the emotional distress fee, rounding up, wouldn’t 20 million be excessive?” The demon girl extended a small hand. “If you have no objections, 20 million, thank you for your patronage!”